Intense drought and heat in Ishwardi, Pabna are making litchi fruitlets drop, and growers fear the crop will fail. Fruitlets of the Mozaffarpuri variety, known as the local (deshi) litchi, are dropping most, and fruitlets of the Bombai litchi have also started to fall.

Ishwardi is famous for juicy, tasty litchis. The trees blossom in mid-Baishakh, and green fruitlets appear from the blossom in the month of Chaitra, the article says. Now small green fruitlets can be seen on every litchi tree. This year every tree had a record amount of blossom, and fruit set from the blossom was very good, so growers had high hopes of a good crop. But after ten straight days of intense heat from 28 March to 6 April, the fruitlets have started to drop, and growers fear their hopes will be dashed.

According to the upazila agriculture office, litchis have been grown on 3,100 hectares in Ishwardi this year. With favourable weather in Baishakh, every litchi tree blossomed well, and the agriculture department is expecting a good crop.

In the upazila's well-known litchi villages, including Mirkamari, Maniknagar, Baktarpur, Jagannathpur, Basherbada, Joynagar, Sahapur, Awtapara and Charsahapur, rows of litchi orchards come into view on arrival. Green fruitlets hang among the leaves. There are more fruitlets than in the past few years, with plenty on almost every tree.

Jahangir Alam, a litchi grower in Maniknagar village, told Jago News: "This time the litchi trees had a record amount of blossom. The Chaitra heat is badly damaging the fruitlets. The temperature is now 38-39°C. Farmers here have big hopes for litchis. Because of the harsh sun and heat, the fruitlets have started to drop. If the dropping continues, growers' dreams of a good crop will be shattered."

Yarul Islam, a grower in the same village, said: "My litchi orchard had a lot of blossom and fruit set was good, but for a few days the fruitlets have been dropping." Ikibul Malitha, a grower in Joynagar village, said: "Because of several days of intense drought, all the fruitlets on the trees are dropping. Even spraying water and pesticide at night and in the morning cannot stop the drop. Fruitlets of the Bombai litchi are dropping as well as the local litchi."

Farmer Moyen Uddin of the same village said: "It is very hot in the day and cool at night. The fruitlets are dropping because of the heat and cold."

Mostafa Zaman Nayan, a pesticide and fertiliser trader in Maniknagar village, said: "The fruitlets are dropping this time because of the intense drought. Growers are coming to us for advice on stopping the drop. We are contacting agriculture officials and giving growers pesticide to stop the fruitlet drop."

Md Saifuddin Yahia, sub-assistant agriculture officer for the upazila's Salimpur union, said: "The fruitlets are dropping because of the intense heat. Growers are being advised to tend their orchards properly and use pesticide as needed."

Ishwardi upazila agriculture officer Mita Sarkar said: "The fruitlets are dropping because of the high temperature. Litchi growers are being given various kinds of advice for this."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.